Midlife Unfiltered: The Season Of Me

Dementia is now the #1 cause of death for women and men in Australia. It’s terminal with no known cure for its various form of which there are over 100. The form of dementia most often spoken of is Alzheimer’s.

In this series our aim is to share real life experiences so that if you find yourself on this journey, or if you already are, you feel less isolated and alone. That others understand and see you and your struggles. We also ...

You’re struggling to understand who you are in the midst of all the changes you feel inside and those you are drawn to from the outside. Discovering your place in the world, how and where to fit in, guided by your instincts and those around you. The learning curve is steep at times and if you’re lucky, you get to experience it surrounded by love and support.

Sound familiar? Those were our teenage years.

You’d be forgiven for thinki...

When you devour a book because you find it hard to put down, it’s a sign that it’s a bloody good one. When you can’t wait to share and chat about it, it’s a sign that it has resonated with you deeply.

That’s the impact Mind Your Body: A Revolutionary Programme to Release Chronic Pain and Anxiety, had on Erica and why we chose to chat about it on the podcast. It’s a book you simply must know about!

"Pain is an invitation to recognise ...

A conversation on her podcast with gut guru Dr Steven Gundry literally changed her life. It set Shawna on a new trajectory to research, learn and join the dots about her Dad’s health condition. This was now personal.

Dementia. It’s a cruel neuro-degenerative condition of the brain for which there is currently no cure. All we ultimately have to offer those with it, is comfort.

Shawna’s Dad had been diagnosed with Dementia - early onse...

Aging with power. Not grace. Power. What does that mean for you? And how do we do it?

In this podcast episode on Midlife Unfiltered, Anita explores what it means for women in midlife to age with power. Taking back our agency, advocating for health.

Because there are GAPS.

Lifespan - Health span = 10-15 year Gap: We may be living longer but we are not living well, longer. Statistically (Australian statistics) if like me, you’re a whit...

As we say goodbye to a challenging 2025, Erica & I talk about 2025's most popular podcast topics and why they've resonated so much and how they resonated with us personally as we reflect upon them. Rest. Identity & Values.

We record weekly so have banked about 50 episodes in 2025, moving to launch from Substack at the end of 2024. Still finding our feet in many ways but loving it here. From Substack our podcast is broadcast on all t...

How do we rest when we’re restless?

In this week’s podcast chat, Erica and I discover that our relationship with Rest is at either ends of the rest spectrum. That relationship very much determines how we rest and when we do.

With the ‘silly season’ and the mad rush to year’s end upon us, we felt Rest was something that might be helpful to talk about. Rest is also the theme of Erica’s SelfKind hub this month, so…snap!

Let’s talk abo...

In this week’s podcast episode we are talking about the books we are currently reading or have read. Books we are enjoying and why. We also deep dive into one favourite so you can work out if it’s for you.

We both read quite a few books at the same time. Maybe that’s a love of reading. Maybe that’s our ADHD speaking. :)

Erica’s Fab 4 Books: are a mix of fiction and non-fiction. Books she reads to match her mood. Maybe you can relate....

Perhaps a rather unusual topic to chat about but with such a large post WW2 migrant population in Australia and other countries, perhaps not so niche. Many are elderly now and many more have died, so the want to take them back home, is greater now than ever before.

Have you taken a loved one’s ashes back to their home town, to a country outside of where they lived most of their life?

The last time we were all together as an extended...

“People like you don’t Retire!”

In this episode of Midlife Unfiltered, we welcome special guest Tracey Bode. Tracey shares her journey of stepping back from her business after a 45-year career, and the fulfillment she has found in being present in her everyday life post-retirement.

We talk about the importance of planning for retirement, what the big ‘R’, retirement even means now, what it means for Tracey. Is it Retirement or rath...

In the tumultuous change of midlife, it makes perfect sense that at times, we’ll feel lost. Often a loss of a sense of self - of who we are. And with that, the confidence to dress in a way that feels authentic.

Erica has had times when she looks in the mirror and the image of the person looking back at her feels…well…rather alien. We talked about this in a previous episode here in Midlife Unfiltered. In that episode we both exclaime...

It’s not often that women’s health is given a mega spotlight. Not like this. It’s indeed rare to have 4 powerhouses of women’s health around the same table, sharing their knowledge, their wisdom with the goal of making us more aware of how our body works, what it needs to work well now, and for Future Us.

Steven Bartlett on his podcast Diary Of A CEO recently facilitated a very thoughtful, comprehensively insightful, practical and ...

Just last week Erica declared something that was NOT very Erica to me. That with so much on her plate, she wasn’t striving for an A in her assignment, she was going for a pass. WHAAAT? And then there was Jennifer at Midlife Anticrisis - ‘Being Mediocre’, post we both read (and loved). We felt the universe was sending a message and that we simply had to go there, on the podcast, this week.

Perplexity.ai defines mediocrity as ‘a qual...

“When I feel ‘styled’ I don’t feel like me”. A recent trip to the hairdressers left Erica feeling like her new hair cut doesn’t really feel like her. Even questioning does that even matter?

It may seem frivalous at first, but thinking about why and talking it through…well…turns out it’s faaar from frivalous. Join us as we talk it through on the podcast.

Feeling Like ME.

“I’ve never really found my style, so it typically doesn’t look ...

“Thank goodness you said I have dementia and not Alzeheimer’s.” These were words I heard on a Hammondcare’s Dementia podcast when Prof Cunningham was relaying a story.

Having been on a dementia journey with my family and Dad, I am rather familiar with this misconception about dementia. It’s why we need to have many, many, many conversations about it. To broaden understanding about what dementia is and how it can infiltrate and infl...

Identity Shifts in Midlife. It hits hard in this swirling mass of change. For many of us, the impact it can have, we will not see coming nor recognise it. Transitioning. Discovering. Unraveling.

In this very honest and open conversations Alex and Cat join Eric and Anita to talk about Identity in midlife. Unfiltered.

What we do Vs Who we are because they are not the same thing.

But how to you know who you are and what can guide you thr...

We often remember our firsts. First love, first pet, first home when you left home, first car. Remembering, often bringing a smile. What if we could continue creating and treasuring firsts as we age? How would that impact how we thought about aging, did our aging?

In this episode we take a path off the road of curiosity and explore the Beginner’s Mindset. Exploring new with little (if any) expectation of what will unfold but with an...

When she broke 17 bones, Anita’s friend said it was the greatest gift she’d received. Sure, an unexpected response. The gift came in the extended forced pause. To quiet, to listen. To seek honest answers from herself to big questions ‘what do I want?’ and to question what mattered most now in midlife and beyond (as well as how to do I heal my body :) ).

But they don’t have to be big, or forced. We can choose very small pauses to gro...